Why Coronavirus Is Spiking In Lawton

For months, we've all been having a massive debate about the rona. It's in social media, we argue with coworkers, it's become a political issue, and odds are everybody is wrong regardless of their beliefs. I've always been the person that has the unique and often unpopular opinion about things and I'm not about to change my ways now.

Before you fire off that email, I already know... You've become an epidemiologist in your spare time on Facebook these past few months. This is just my opinion, you're entitled to yours. That being said, lets try to break down why covid is really booming in Southwest Oklahoma.

In March, I pretty sure most people came together in a moment of worry about this virus. We stayed home for the most part, only shopped for essentials, worried about jobs, and overall stayed glued to the information that was coming out. That brief moment passed by April.

When the city councils all over Oklahoma closed down everything except essential businesses and the golf course, we all sort of took it in stride. Sure, it sucked, but how long could it last? We were all expecting two weeks. It took a month. By the end of that month, half of the people were ready to get on with life filled with confidence a lying mainstream media spoon fed everybody. The other half were ready to shelter in place filled with the fear the other lying mainstream media spoon fed them. There only the thinnest of moderates in between. After hoards of Karen's and Ken's protested in mass across the country, on the threat of revolting against tyranny, cities reopened their businesses with two conditions... Must wear masks and social distance.

Turns out, people didn't mind being told to social distance this go round... but we all realized, we hadn't seen angry people until someone told them they had to wear a mask. Has American history taught our elected elitists nothing? We don't like being told what to do... and even if we're being told to do something good for the whole, we'll fight it and only embrace it when it becomes a choice. At least, that's how everything else in history has worked out. I don't like wearing a mask either, but at the end of the day, if that's what it takes to get my ration of toilet paper, it's a small inconvenience in the grand scheme of life.

In May, we learned that every person on Facebook spent their month of boredom becoming epidemiologists capable of spewing false facts and cheat codes to get out of the mask mandate because, you know, rebellion... The other side of that became a mob of equally vile people hoarding to shame people for not wanting to wear their masks. In fact, there was so much misinformation being spread, I'd bet 99% of everyone forgot what the emphasis was on these masks. Two layers of quilted material was recommended to better contain any rona the wearer might be carrying... Somehow everyone seemed to think it was to prevent the rona from entering the body. The mask arguments continued, and still, everyone forgot the point was to slow the spread, not stop the spread, but once the public reaches that super-ego stage, nothing can change minds.

Summer came and things took a deeper turn for the worse. People were bored, they felt cooped up, and they were looking for any reason to get rid of that angst. Massive protests erupted across the country. They weren't about mask mandates and social distancing, it was the Black Lives Matter movement. After a few weeks, the Summer spike hit the coronavirus records. Tempers cooled, people moved back to their normal socially distant lives, and then it happened... The fear of what was happening in other states landed on the minds of the people in Oklahoma thanks to those pesky lame-stream medias.

I still can't understand how the mainstream media convinced people in Oklahoma that they were being oppressed the same was as people in other tyrannical states were being oppressed. Flat out stay-at-home orders in states like Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Michigan, New York, etc... The subjects in those states were forced to live life in a bubble while we were free to get "Can I speak to your manager" haircuts and grocery shop at our leisure, but for whatever reason, Oklahoman's felt like they were being locked in their own homes when the emphasis was put back in the phrase "Continue social distancing."

The nerve...

As Summer ended and the holiday season came into sight, people either became deaf to the covid news that has infiltrated every aspect of our lives these days, or they embraced denial. The fact that all news medias are sensationalizing the 0.2% of worst case hospitalizations isn't helping. It continued to turn off half the population and worry the other half. Once again, the media has turned us all against each other. For a few days around the election, rona took a back seat to the presidential race, and people started to stress about something new. I took a vacation to my hometown, everywhere I went, I was the only person in a mask.

It was a weird experience being the only person in a mask. Of course, all the kids were in masks at school, but after 3pm, not a single covered face in that town. One crotchety old man even confronted me in the hardware store about how my mask won't prevent me from catching the rona... Once again, an entire population of people are confused about how the masks are supposed to work... But instead of correcting him, I just decided to say "I know, I just don't want to spread my covid to you." followed by some Academy Award Winning coughs.

Here we are today. Ultimately, with so much talk and the promise of a working vaccine, people have relaxed and dropped their personal guard on the matter. It's not one specific population of people or any one political side. I have a super diverse range of friends and I see the same lax in all of them. I'm probably guilty of it too.

So where do we go from here? Well, I'll tell you in my non-bias personal and often unpopular opinion. I think we could do better as humans with the things we chose to consume online. We would all probably be better off if we stopped watching the news altogether. That doesn't mean we should ignore the world around us and pretend covid-19 is "just a flu." At the end of the day, the news medias are creating both deeply seated rebellion and enormous amounts of fear by putting 100% of the focus on 0.2% of the virus cases. If you saw the national news report from a local hospital the other night, we could sure stop rewarding broadcasts like that. Sensationalism. The airing of such a private and emotional moment between a woman and her husband shouldn't have been shared to the world for advertising dollars. It was predatory journalism. Make no mistake about it, it wasn't a segment focused on telling a story... It was the extortion of raw emotions for the purpose of selling you whatever ad played before, during, or after that clip.

Don't look at the advice of medical professionals as tyrannical injustice. Accept that your health is your responsibility, but at the same time, caring for your fellow human is just as important. Masks suck, but they aren't hurting you. Social distance sucks, but it isn't hurting you. Another impending lock down will suck, and it will hurt even more than the first one did. If masks and social distancing keep us from that, I think we can all be on board with that. After all, even if you still have animosity towards our worthless local elected leaders, it won't be long until we can replace them all.

Keep your guard up.